t, I grant you, but as much in the
hands of the civilian as one of your howitzers is in the hands of the
men who load and fire it. At this moment sixty commissioners, ruffians
and cut-throats to a man--fellows whom the true soldier abhors, and who
are covered with blood from top to toe--are on their way from Paris to
the headquarters of the fourteen armies of the republic. Woe be to the
general who has a will of his own! Those fellows will arrest him in the
midst of his own staff, carry him off in the presence of his army, and
send him to give a popular holiday to the Parisians, by his execution
within half an hour after his arrival. So much for the power of an
army."

"But Frenchmen are human beings after all. Must not those horrors revolt
human nature?" was my question, put with indignant sincerity. He looked
at me with a quiet smile.

"You are romantic, Marston, but you are of an age that becomes romance.
When you shall have lived as long as I have done, and seen as much of
the world as myself, you will know that it is utterly selfish. It may be
true, that some generous spirits are to be found here and there, some
fond hearts to cling to, some noble natures which inspire an involuntary
homage for their superiority; but you might as well expect to be lighted
on your way by a succession of meteors. In the world, you will find that
every man carries his lantern for himself; and that whether small or
great his light, the first object is to guide his own steps, with not
the slightest care whether yours may not be into the swamp--unless,
indeed, he may have a particular object in bewildering you into the very
heart of it. But now, to more pressing affairs than my honest and
luckless philosophy. Get leave from your colonel to take a ride with me.
I feel a sudden wish to know what Dampierre is doing; and a few hours,
and as few leagues, may supply us with information on points which your
brave countrymen seem so constitutionally to despise. But recollect that
_I_ am a Prussian."

We returned to the table, which was crowded with visitors, and spent an
hour or two in great enjoyment; for what enjoyment can be higher than
the conversation of minds willing to give and receive intellectual
pleasure? And Guiscard was never more animated, easy, and abundant, in
communicating that pleasure. He was a model of the most accomplished
order of the continental gentleman. He had commenced life as a scholar;
a disappointment in his affec